imatrixfandomcom-20200214-history
Some Men Want to Watch the World Burn
The fight for good and evil takes place in the world everyday. In The Batman movie The Dark Knight, Alfred (Micheal Cane), Batman's butler says that some men "can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotaited with. Some men just want to watch the world burn (The Dark Knight)." Evil men wanting to make the world burn exists not only as a major theme in The Dark Knight, but also in the world's history. Dictators like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin caused an enormous amount of pain and corruption towards innocent citizens, just like the Joker did in Gotham City. But in the end, Batman , who stands for goodness and justice, defeats the evilness of the Joker and restores peace in Gotham City. In The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan utlizes the Joker to mimick the phychotic actions and evilness of Hitler and Stalin to illustrate that even though evil people exist in the world, goodness will win in the end and bring that evil to justice. In the opening scene of the movie the Joker is robbing the Gotham City Bank with his team of misfits. The most shocking twist in this scene occurs when the Joker shoots the majority of his own team of thieves. Throughout the movie, the audience realizes that the Joker does not care if he murders people, even if the person he murders just so happens to be his own team member. Jospeh Stalin became the dictator of the Soviet Union Russia in 1922 ("Joseph Stalin Biography") . Stalin led the Soviet Union during World War II. In order to ensure that his soildiers would not retreat. He created the "Not One Step Back Rule." Historian Chris Trueman said that the Soviet Union had soildiers that stood in the "rear of an attack and would shoot anyone not advancing quickly enough or were seen retreating." The "Not One Step Back Rule" caused the death of thousands of Russian soildiers (Trueman). Stalin implemented a rule that stated that all soildiers captured by the enemy resided and worked in Russian concentration camps when they where released from Germany. Even the captured soldier's family resided in the concentration camp. Stalin said that Russian captives were "traitors to their homeland". Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvil, became captured by Germany, but they offered Stalin a trade for his son and Marshal von Paulus.The evil dictator refused and his son remained a prisoner to Germany, until his death in 1943 (Colley). He did not even think about or attempt to save his pitiful son. Also, like the Joker, he shot and killed his own men without hesitation. He also caused the most damaging famine in the Ukraine in 1932. He ordered his men to take away food from the people in the Ukraine because he feared that they would could cause an uprising against his government. This famine also took place in the Kazakhs and Urals. All in all, this famine that Stalin created killed nine million people. Like the Joker terroizing the innocent citizens of Gotham City, Stalin enjoyed killing the peasants of the Ukraine, Urals, and Kazakahs (Trueman). They both are willing to betray their own men, in order to ensure that they are in control when the damage is done. The Joker and Stalin not only killed their own men, but they illustrated no mercy towards the people they killed. The lack of mercy illustrates that the Joker and Stalin care nothing of innocent people because in the end it makes them feel more secure and safe when these people are dead. This explains why The Joker did not mind killing one innocent person everyday until Batman revealed himself. He knew that the more people he killed the closer he got to Batman revealing himself, in order to save the innocent people. Stalin knew that he gained control of the countries that he starved, and that control gave him that security he needed. The willingness to betray and their merciless behavior makes these men evil. One of the saddest scenes in the movie occurs when the Joker blows up a building where he is holding Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyletheli) as his hostage. Rachel is Batman's childhood friend and old love interest. The Joker sets offa bomb in the building before Batman can save Rachel. The Joker attempts to get the citizens of Gotham City to blow up a boat of criminals, and he tries to get the criminals to blow up the building that the citizens are in (The Dark Knight). Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany in 1922 (Wistrich). Hitler also became the head of the National Socialists German Workers Party, or the Nazi party ("What Does Nazi Stand For?"). His hatred of the innocent Jews caused him to set up concentration and death camps. The death camps exterminated and annihilated not only Jews, but homosexuals, gypsies, communists, and disabled people. Hilter placed these six death camps in Europe. First, the Nazis would gas the prisoners in the shower rooms. Then, they would burn the bodies after they were killed. This mass murder was known as the Holocaust and it ended up taking the lives of eleven million people (Bulow). Just like the Joker burning Rachel and killing the citizens in Gotham City, Hitler murdered many innocent people out of hatred and spite. The Joker wanted to crush Batman's spirit by killing Rachel, even though Batman and Rachel fought for peace and harmony in Gotham City everyday. Hitler wanted to break the spirit of the Jewish people in the concentration and death camps, simply because he hated them and viewed them as pollutants to the German people. The Joker and Hitler using fire to kill reflects the evil fire that burns in their hearts and causes them to torture and terrorize innocent people. At the end of The Dark Knight, Batman catches the Joker and the police take him as a prisoner. Justice and goodness finally prevail, and the city of Gotham will once again feel safe and secure. The same result proves to be true for Stalin and Hitler. On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died from a massive heart attack. Even though he died the Soviet Union continued until 1991. Even though the Soviet Union lasted for awhile, it broke down ("The Cold War Museum"). At the end of World War II, the Allied forces ended the German rule. They liberated the concentration camps and got rid of many Nazis. Before the Allies caught Hitler, he committed suicide (Wistrich). Just like in The Dark Knight, history proves that in the end justice will always win out over evil. Works Cited Bulow, Louis. "Adolf Hitler and The Holocaust." Adolf Hitler and The Holocaust. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013. Colley, Rupert. "History in an Hour." History in an Hour. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013. "Joseph Stalin Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2013. "The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013 Trumen, Chris. "Not One Step Back - Order 227." N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2013 "What Does Nazi Stand For?" Trumen, Chris. "The Great Famine." N.p., 6 Feb. 2013. Web. WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013. Wistrich, Robert S. "Adolf Hitler." : Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013. Section heading Write the first section of your page here. Section heading Write the second sect ion of your page here.